- Joined
- Nov 7, 2017
- Messages
- 16
- Purraise
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Hi everyone! I am a first time cat owner so I would love some feedback on our little furbaby’s Behavior. I’ve been reading articles but still don’t seem to understand.
Our cat is 5 months old now. Got her when she was 4 months. She was taken early from her mother, but not her litter mates. She was being fostered by an outdoor restaurant when we got her; she was still with her litter mates but I’m not sure how much interaction she got with them because of all the activity going on at the restaurant all the time.
She’s a lovely kitten; affectionate and loves being around people. We really adore her. But she also loves to bite! I’ve seen aggressive biting and it’s never aggressive, but it’s still a behavior I want to kick. It’s especislly in the morning and night; it’s so hard to predict when she’s about to bite. She will show all the signs of a happy cat: tail up, whiskers forward, sometimes even purring, but then she will come up to you and go for a juicy human limb. It never draws blood; sometimes it’s more of a snap, but sometimes it feels more like a gnawing than anything (especially when she goes for my leg!)
I know that petting can induce biting if she is getting overstimulated, but this happens a lot when no one is even touching her either.
I’ve been using all of the non-physical discipline techniques: ignoring her, walking away, a firm “no”, redirecting with toys, but the behavior still persists. When I walk away from her and ignore her and return - she USUALLY will not bite again for a while. But it does happen again eventually.
Is this something she will just need to grow out of? Is it unrealistic for me to expect that a 5 month kitten will learn when not to bite? Or is there another method I can use that I’m not seeing? Any input is helpful, thank you!
Our cat is 5 months old now. Got her when she was 4 months. She was taken early from her mother, but not her litter mates. She was being fostered by an outdoor restaurant when we got her; she was still with her litter mates but I’m not sure how much interaction she got with them because of all the activity going on at the restaurant all the time.
She’s a lovely kitten; affectionate and loves being around people. We really adore her. But she also loves to bite! I’ve seen aggressive biting and it’s never aggressive, but it’s still a behavior I want to kick. It’s especislly in the morning and night; it’s so hard to predict when she’s about to bite. She will show all the signs of a happy cat: tail up, whiskers forward, sometimes even purring, but then she will come up to you and go for a juicy human limb. It never draws blood; sometimes it’s more of a snap, but sometimes it feels more like a gnawing than anything (especially when she goes for my leg!)
I know that petting can induce biting if she is getting overstimulated, but this happens a lot when no one is even touching her either.
I’ve been using all of the non-physical discipline techniques: ignoring her, walking away, a firm “no”, redirecting with toys, but the behavior still persists. When I walk away from her and ignore her and return - she USUALLY will not bite again for a while. But it does happen again eventually.
Is this something she will just need to grow out of? Is it unrealistic for me to expect that a 5 month kitten will learn when not to bite? Or is there another method I can use that I’m not seeing? Any input is helpful, thank you!
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I was so proud of her and praised her. I think that's a good sign.
